SAICA Analysis of the Changes to the Legal Profession relevant to Accountants and Auditors

The Legal Practice Act, 28 of 2014 (the LPA) was enacted on 22 September 2014 (Government Gazette No 38022). The remaining chapters of the LPA were implemented on 1 November 2018 (Government Gazette No 42003), thereby replacing the Attorneys Act 53, 1979 (the Attorneys Act) in its entirety (with some exclusions). The final South African Legal Practice Council Rules (the LPC Rules) made under the authority of Section 95(1), 95(3) and 109(2) of the LPA were gazetted on 20 July 2018 (Government Gazette No 41781) and replaced the Rules for the Attorneys’ Profession (Uniform Rules).

The Legal Practice Council (the LPC) has now assumed regulation over all legal practitioners, as defined in the LPA and includes attorneys and advocates.

The purpose of this document is to assist SAICA members who are involved in the accounting or audit of legal practitioner trust accounts, and their support staff, including audit managers, supervisors, trainee accountants and engagement quality reviewers in identifying the changes that have arisen and determine the impact on the related work performed.

This document is divided into two parts. Part A provides an overview of the key differences between the Attorneys Act and the LPA relevant to accountants and auditors. Part B includes a tabular comparison between the Uniform Rules and the LPC Rules.